Championship Manager coming to Facebook

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Square Enix is to bring its long-running Championship Manager franchise to Facebook, in a new collaboration between the software giant and Jolt Online Gaming & Gamestop.

The MMOG version of the football management title will take certain popular elements from Beautiful Studios' PC and iPhone editions, and tailor them for an online experience. It'll also see a return to the PC for the game, as the last instalment was released back in 2009, albeit in a new guise.

Jolt Online Gaming, based in Dublin, Ireland, was bought by US retail chain Gamestop in 2009, and already runs a host of other online free-to-play browser games, such as Utopia Kingdoms, Playboy Party and Jolt Poker. It has been listing a teaser for an unknown football game on its homepage for a while.

However, it's now obvious that this picture alluded to the deal with Square Enix to bring Champ Man (as fans of the series have called it since year one) to Facebook: "Championship Manager continues to be an important franchise for Square Enix and we're excited to be able to bring it to new platforms such as smartphones and now Facebook," says Phil Rogers, president and CEO of Square Enix Europe. "We have found the perfect partner for this initiative in Jolt/Gamestop and we look forward to working together towards the launch of this new gaming experience."

Mike Mauler, executive vice president of International for GameStop, is also equally thrilled to be working on the iconic brand: “There’s nothing that rivals the enthusiasm of Championship Manager fans," he says.

Pocket-lint is certainly looking forward to it, especially considering the excellent last game in the line-up, CM 1980s Legends for the iPhone.

What do you think? Do footy management games work online? What features would you like to see in Facebook Championship Manager? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below...